New Delhi: India’s 110m hurdler Tejas Shirse’s season came to an abrupt end this week after he ran with a broken foot in the final of the recently concluded . Shirse suffered two stress fractures in his left foot but ran in the final despite the pain, while not knowing the extent of his injury.
The hurdler revealed the injury has forced him to end his season abruptly as he prepares to undergo treatment for the same. Shirse qualified for the 100m hurdles final after finishing third in the heats with a time of 13.76 seconds. He missed out on a medal in the final race, where he clearly struggled due to his injury.
Shirse took to Instagram to reveal he only realised that something was seriously wrong with his left foot during the warm-up before his final race at the Commonwealth Games 2026. However, he decided to run in the final despite the pain.
“I didn’t feel it going into the competition. Something changed during warm-up. Every athlete knows that moment when your body tells you something is wrong, but your heart refuses to listen,” Shirse wrote in a post on Instagram.
“So I ran. Not because I thought I would win. Because sometimes you’ve worked too long to walk away before the gun goes off,” he added.
The 22-year-old revealed he later underwent scans, where two stress fractures were detected in his left foot, suddenly ending his season. Shirse also responded to the criticism he faced on social media after fans spotted him limping during the final in the men’s 100m hurdles. He said he didn’t limp because he finished last, but because he was running with a broken foot.
“Instead, I’m holding MRI reports. Two stress fractures in my left foot. A dream paused. A season over. I’ve read the comments. ‘I limped because I was in last position.’ No. I limped because my foot was broken,” wrote Shirse.
No Asian Games for Tejas Shirse
The double stress fracture has forced Shirse to end his season, ruling him out of the upcoming Asian Games 2026. The competition is scheduled to be held in Japan in September and October this year. Shirse called it the “cruellest part”, revealing that the Asian Games will be the ninth major competition that he will be missing due to an injury.
“The cruellest part isn’t one race. It’s knowing I qualified for the Asian Games… and now I won’t get to stand on that start line again,” said the Indian hurdler.